Day 31

Day 30 - Cows

Brockton and I took Molly for a walk this morning. We saw cows, but waited until grandpa came home to go look at them closer. Brockton rode on Grandpa's shoulders and as we got near, Grandpa put Brockton down so I could take some pictures. Brockton did not like the cows, especially when they headed towards us.





We sat Brockton down a little ways away to take some close ups.

Glancing at the cows, still a little worried.

When he came back to visit later, he begged to go see the cows again. We didn't have time though, we had to head out to dinner with Tracy's parents for their 51st wedding anniversary.

Day 29 - Molly's haircut

We decided it was time to give Molly a haircut. Brockton helped. When Molly would get nervous, Brockton would come up to her and give her a hug and say, "Oh Molly." So sweet. Afterwards, when she was laying on the ottoman, he came up and gave her a few kisses. I thought it was so cute, I ran to get my camera, by then it was over, so we tried to re-create it on the chair.

A Better Way to Peel a Potato

I saw this video on Ann Bradshaw's blog. This goes right up there with the better way to peel a pear. I spent countless hours peeling potatoes in my youth. Sometimes peeled the skin on my fingers too. This seems like a much better way. Can't wait to try it out.

Day 28 - Touchdown!

Brockton went with us to Jace's basketball game this time.

Getting into the game.

He loved it when they made a basket, he would raise his arms and yell, "Touchdown!" I know this picture is really blurry, but I just had to share it. I had put the camera down when I saw him start to do this, so I had to hurry and put it back up and snap the shot before it was too late. Bad picture, good memory.

Day 27

Hallie loves playing with stuffed animals. This was her favorite friend during the summer, left out in the snow.

Day 26

Roses outside my house.

Day 25

Day 24

Winter - yuck! But if you look really hard, there is a little beauty in it.

Brockton came over. He found an ornament that had fallen and gotten lost when we put away the tree. He said, "Ball, tree?" I said yes. Then he played with it for a minute. I heard a rattling, like he had taken the top off and looked, he was touching that part of it. I asked him if he broke it. He said, "No, I fixed it." It was indeed like it should be. What a smart little kid. Who knew he knew that sentence.

I lined the cars up and had Mater jump them like he does on Tall Tales. Brockton loved it. He started doing the same thing. He'd land on a car and say "Ouch." At the end of the jump he'd say, "I did it!"

Day 23 - Rex

It's been snowing off and on the last couple of days. The sun seems never to shine. It's always hiding behind a cloudy sky. I decided to take a trek outside to get some pictures before going to the movie, "Extraordinary Measures" with Stacy, Jace, Dallan, Kristen and Chaz. As I was heading back towards the house, I saw Rex waiting by the gate for me. Decided this was the best picture of all.

Day 22 - I Can Fly

Not quite. Brockton has decided that it is fun to jump from the ottoman onto the couch and back again. I was sitting close to where he was jumping and he'd land on my leg from time to time, so I moved over a tad. He kept jumping, loving every minute. Then, I don't know what he was thinking, but as he landed on the couch, he jumped for the back of the couch. I didn't like that idea, but as I turned to see how far up the couch he was jumping, I saw that he was jumping right over the couch. Horrified, I rushed to the other side as he began crying. I scooped him up and held him close. He would not be comforted until I told him he scared Grandma. Then he kind of looked at me. I asked if it scared him too. He nodded yes. I called Grandpa out and he held Brockton for a couple of minutes too. Brockton was then off and taking comfort in the kennel with Hallie, feeding her food. All was forgotten, by Brockton at least. Grandma was still trying to get her heart to calm down. Ahhh, little boys discover all too soon, that alas, they cannot fly.

Day 21

It's funny, one of the first things Brockton wants to do now when he comes over is "Picture Hallie." Take a picture of Hallie and him. Someone put the leash on Hallie and Brockton was very happy that he could keep her out from under the couch. I blew in Hallie's face and she started licking. Brockton thought this was great fun and started laughing and blowing in her face too.



The first thing he does when he walks in the door is look for Hallie. The last thing he does as he is leaving is say goodbye to Hallie. Mom or Dad will say, "Say good bye to Grandma," or "Say 'Ilove you Grandma," and Brockton will say, "Bye Hallie" or "I love you Hallie." Even when he can't see her (he just knows she's under the couch right by the door and can hear him.)

Day 20

I got up early to transfer Jace from one school to another. He is now back to his original and correct school. I went and checked him out of the other school yesterday, and checked him back into his real school this morning. It took forever! The office was swarming with kids wanting to see the counselors. It was a VERY long wait. I sent Jace to wait in line for the counselor, then found out it was going to be a long wait because the secretary couldn't get through to the person at the District who had to put him back in the system. I told Jace to go wait back in line but the secretary told me there was no need, she would go tell the counselor we were there and make an appointment for us. I figured that meant we were next. Well, after waiting for at least half an hour, Jace proclaimed it must be because of the boy who was in the counselor's office when he had been in line must be getting all F's. He proceeded to tell me that this boy was in his math class last year and that he had hardly ever come. He told me the boy's name, someone from our old ward. He then proceeded to tell me that the boy was weird now. He acted like a cowboy. I asked how old the boy was and Jace said he was a senior. I said, "No way. I thought he was younger than you." I saw a heavy boy come out of the counselor area and said, "He hasn't gained weight has he?" Jace said no. Then I looked over kitty corner to us not too far away and said, "Isn't that him?" Jace turned pale. It was indeed. He was so embarrassed. We both got the giggles. Hopefully he didn't hear us, but we're pretty sure he did since we had said his name a few times when I was asking how old he was and commenting on how I could only remember him as the little kid I once knew. Jace said that's what he got for talking about someone behind their back. I told him I had learned that, but I guess not well enough.


Anyway, here's my picture of the day. I'm cheating a bit as I took this on Sunday.

Day 19 (Kiss, kiss, kiss)

Awhile ago, Brockton realized that when I called Hallie, I did the kissing sound. Once in awhile he'll call Hallie then do the kissing sound himself. Tuesday night when Brockton was over while his parents went to the gym, grandpa went downstairs to run on the treadmill. Brockton wanted to go down there too, but I kept him upstairs, not wanting him to get hurt. Every once in awhile, Brockton would go to the top of the stairs and call "Papa!" No answer. After awhile, Brockton went back to the top of the stairs and yelled, "Papa! Honey! (kiss, kiss, kiss - calling papa as he would Hallie.) Too funny!

I went to get my camera, but grandpa had come upstairs by then, so I sat Brockton on the chair to take his picture. He begged for a book, so grandpa handed one to him. Here he is looking at the book. He loves to look at books.

I told him to call grandpa and he called him then made the kissing sounds again, so I hurried and snapped a picture.

Later, he crawled on the piano bench with "Cow" and started driving "Cow" over the keyboard, playing the piano. It was too cute so I had to take a picture of that too, even though Jace was begging for no more pictures since the flash gives him a headache. Jace is prone to migraines.

Day 18 - Sing, Sing a Song

Brockton loves to climb up on the piano bench and play the piano and sing a song. The words are something about Hallie and Molly.

One shoe off and one shoe on.

Day 17 - Puppies or Mice?

Dallan's Shih-Tzu, Anela had puppies a couple of weeks ago and Dallan couldn't wait to bring them up to show us. Aren't they cute?

When I showed the puppies to Brockton, he didn't want anything to do with them. He said, "No, mouse." He thought they were mice! Cody is trying to convince Brockton that it is a cute little puppy like Hallie and Molly, not a mouse. Brockton still didn't want anything to do with them. (I think this one would have to be my picture of the day.)



Brockton finally warmed up to the puppies when Cody asked Brockton if he wanted to take one home. Brockton said yes, and Cody told him to go ask Dallan. Here he is giving the puppy a hug.

Cody watching football.

Dallan was kind enough to give a few haircuts. Here he is with Brockton. He put the cape around Cody who was holding Brockton, so we put a bib on Brockton to keep the hair off.

Cody let Brockton play with his ipod to keep him distracted.





Brockton had had enough. Plus I think the ipod got taken away.


The ipod's back and Mommy gave him some gum to calm him down.

My sister Jill and her kids came over and got haircuts too. All the kids had come for dinner and after the haircuts, we played Apples to Apples. Scott won.

Day 16

Tracy and I took Brockton for a walk because the gorgeous frosty trees were calling me. Tracy put him on top of a snowbank so I could get a picture of the mountains in the background. I love this picture with his cute little tongue.






Then I just had to get a picture of the barn behind him.


On another note, Brockton is finally calling me grandma. It's kind of bittersweet. I'll miss him calling me "mom." Means he's growing up, but it is makes me feel good that he can finally call me grandma, since he's been calling grandpa, "papa" for months.


He likes to "run fast" up and down the hall.


Today, we took Brockton to Jamba Juice with us. When we pulled into the parking lot he squealed, "Yay!" Five seconds later he squealed it again, and when we parked, he squealed the loudest and happiest "yay" yet. So cute! He got his own cute little cup with some of my White Gummy Bear with Strawberries.

Day 15 - Hugging Molly

I thought it might be good idea to get a picture of Brockton hugging Molly, since he hugs her tons every time he comes over. I told him to give Molly a hug and he lunged on her.






So I told him to give her another hug which he did. This is what his hugs usually look like. I missed the picture where they both went toppling off since I jerked the camera away from my face when I saw them start to fall. (They were both fine.)

Day 14

Jace had a church basketball game today. Here he is (Number 10) going up for a shot.

A closer view.

I love to watch my kids play basketball.

ISO was around 1600, so pictures are a bit grainy.

Day 13

I took Brockton outside to the front porch to take his picture. I noticed the other day that my ivy was still green! I asked him where his little chair was and he went and grabbed it out of the family room. Well, we sat him down and of course, he didn't want to cooperate. He looked at everything but me. I'd call his name to no avail. Then, I remembered how much he enjoyed calling grandpa a "Couch Potato" and started talking to him about this. He started saying it and laughing. Got some cute pictures.

Day 12 - Couch Potato

I have been feeling a little weary lately. Feeling down, thinking that everything falls on me. Not only do I have to work, but I also have to do everything around the house while Tracy sits and watches tv and plays on his iphone. I started calling him "Couch Potato" hoping it would inspire him to get up and help. Now Brockton has been known to call "Papa" what I call him. Sometimes he'll call him "Honey" saying things like, "Honey, come eat." Well, when he heard me calling Tracy "Couch Potato," he started calling him that. Tracy would laugh and Brockton thought it was even greater fun then. I told Tracy my picture of the day had to be of him being a couch potato. After I got my camera and sat down on this loveseat to take a picture of him on the couch, he got up and came to sit by me so I couldn't take his picture, so I got up to take it. He grabbed the pillows and put it in front of his face. Brockton thought this was great fun, so he grabbed a pillow and climbed up on the loveseat by Tracy and hid too.

Then Tracy kind of had a pillow fight with him, laughing while telling Brockton not to call him a couch potato. Brockton loved it.

While Brockton says "Couch Potato" really cute, he generally mixes it up and calls him a "Tato Couch," or "Potato Couch." Too cute!

Day 11

These are the letter sounds that Brockton knows so far. Grandpa taught him some of them using an app on his phone. I taught him some others using the app and these flashcards that I used with my kids. Now you might think he knows the letters from the pictures, not true! He was sitting on my lap at the computer and was pointing out the letters on the keyboard telling me what they said. He's a smartie! In this picture, I am asking him to show me where the "A" card is.

Day Ten

McKeown and Marinda came to visit after visiting their Grandma H. (Their dad's mom.) She fell and broke a lot of bones under her eye. Sad thing is, no one found her for a day and a half. McKeown asked me to take his picture. I told him to wait for Stacy, but we were afraid the light would be gone before she came, so I took this. Good thing too. I forgot about my picture of the day, so it's lucky I took this.

Day Nine - Brockton and Hallie

Grandpa took Brockton and the dogs out for a walk while I ran an errand. When they got back, I grabbed my camera and we went back out to take the picture of the day. We went across the street and Brockton plopped down in the snow. Okay, I thought, I guess I'll take your picture here.

Just chillin'.

I told Hallie to kiss Brockton, which he loves but always turns away from.

I think I will pick this one as my picture of the day.